Trip Report, Komodo on MV Nusa Tara, Oct 2017, Road Trip on Flores

[drrich2]

How many of you guys do all your own travel arrangements, and how many use a travel agent for U.S. to Komodo (& area) trips? I wouldn't know where to fly in/out of, what the odds of missing a connection are & how to plan for that possibility, where to plan to stay overnight to rest up en route, etc... I figured if I am ever blessed to make it to that part of the world to knock Komodo off the bucket list, I'd basically contact Caradonna, Maduro or similar & say 'Just fix it!'

As far as getting there, we flew a nonstop from Portland to Narita Japan that takes about 11 hours. We spent the night at the Narita Airport Guest House and then flew Garuda to Denpasar which was another 6 or 7 hours. The cost of our ticket was a little less than a Roatan ticket.

Was that ticket for one leg of the journey, or the whole plane trip? I'd read airfare U.S.-to-Red Sea area could be surprisingly cheap (albeit long), but in the past when I'd looked at it for the Philippines (out of curiosity never been to either), I thought it was pricier. Komodo is farther away than that.

Richard.

 

[bill_oregon]

Richard. I generally make my own travel arrangements but I use an agent occasionally. We did this trip ourselves. Our ticket was with Delta Airlines (partnering with Garuda) all the way to Denpasar. We found an airfare online for $750. That was unusually low for that destination. Earlier this year I got a round trip on Delta to Manila for under $600. The airfare deals are out there and can be had.

 

[RB7]

I recently did a liveaboard trip (Triton Bay - Raja Ampat) departing from Kaimana and ending in Sorong... did all the flight arrangements myself via online booking.. flight from Jakarta to Kaimana including connections on thw Air Garuda website... and the flight from Sorong back to Jakarta via Nam Airlines but booked via Nusa travel website. During the trip got an email from NAM that the flight got cancelled but they were able to switch me to an alternate flight... good thing i checked my email during the trip else i would have shown up to the airport and then found out about the cancelled flight.. from what i understand Garuda has relatively less cancelled flights than NAM but unfortunately they dont have direct flights from sorong to jakarta (at least when i went).

 

[RB7]

If you are going as part of a group its probably better to use a travel agent who is familiar with local indonesia to make it painless... if going solo or just with a partner.. then its definately doable by urself... just read the forums and ask for help... also the liveaboards themselves are a good source of info so u can email them directly. . Some of the more expenaivr boats have offices in bali who can take care of all arrangements. Indonesia sounds overwhelming but its not that hard when u get down to it... i booked my travel at short notice.. just 4-5 weeks before the liveaboard.

 

[outofofficebrb]

How many of you guys do all your own travel arrangements, and how many use a travel agent for U.S. to Komodo (& area) trips? I wouldn't know where to fly in/out of, what the odds of missing a connection are & how to plan for that possibility, where to plan to stay overnight to rest up en route, etc... I figured if I am ever blessed to make it to that part of the world to knock Komodo off the bucket list, I'd basically contact Caradonna, Maduro or similar & say 'Just fix it!'



Was that ticket for one leg of the journey, or the whole plane trip? I'd read airfare U.S.-to-Red Sea area could be surprisingly cheap (albeit long), but in the past when I'd looked at it for the Philippines (out of curiosity never been to either), I thought it was pricier. Komodo is farther away than that.

Richard.

I always make arrangements myself and use a combination of ITA Matrix and Trip Advisor. If it’s a liveaboard I like to book throughout diviac for just the liveaboard portion. If you need some help I am happy to help. PM me!

 

[drrich2]

Thanks, all. For me it'd be a couple of years in the future at the earliest, and that might be a stretch. Still, I'd like to hit Komodo before I die. In the meantime, I appreciate these trip reports; maybe somebody they'll provide the research base for the local live-aboard boats I'll need.

Richard.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I book the land dive or liveaboard portion with Liquid Diving Adventures and do the flight booking by myself, though the lob can often do the domestic flights for you.

 

[FindingMenno]

How many of you guys do all your own travel arrangements, and how many use a travel agent for U.S. to Komodo (& area) trips? I wouldn't know where to fly in/out of, what the odds of missing a connection are & how to plan for that possibility, where to plan to stay overnight to rest up en route, etc... I figured if I am ever blessed to make it to that part of the world to knock Komodo off the bucket list, I'd basically contact Caradonna, Maduro or similar & say 'Just fix it!'



Was that ticket for one leg of the journey, or the whole plane trip? I'd read airfare U.S.-to-Red Sea area could be surprisingly cheap (albeit long), but in the past when I'd looked at it for the Philippines (out of curiosity never been to either), I thought it was pricier. Komodo is farther away than that.

Richard.

I think you worry too much!

Getting around in SE-Asia is very easy. There are (cheap) flights everywhere easily available online, good quality hotels in every budget range you can book online, airport shuttles, taxis, Ubers make getting around a piece of cake. People are generally helpful and friendly. Taxis can try to overcharge you, but that's about every taxi I ever encountered around the world....

Having lived in both Caribbean and SE-Asia, I find traveling there so much easier and less stressful then in the Americas/Caribbean.

A little something I often use when figuring where to fly, often an airports Wikipedia page has good info on where flights go to and which airline. From there you can easily piece together a trip using Skyscanner, Google Flights, Nusatrip (for Indo/Asian flights).
Komodo Airport - Wikipedia

Komodo is dirt easy to get to, just get to Bali and plenty of daily flights for the last hop. And as mentioned, most local dive shops and liveaboards can give you great advice how to get to them, and many can probably even book it for you.

But if you want to save some money, it's pretty easy to do it yourself. As most here, I'd be happy to help out (I worked in Komodo for a bit).

Stop worrying and start doing!

 

[FindingMenno]

Southwestern Kentucky, so say Nashville as starting point? See tickets to Bali starting at 955 USD. Seems reasonable!

 

[Trailboss123]

Thanks, all. For me it'd be a couple of years in the future at the earliest, and that might be a stretch. Still, I'd like to hit Komodo before I die. In the meantime, I appreciate these trip reports; maybe somebody they'll provide the research base for the local live-aboard boats I'll need.

Richard.

Reef and Rainforest out of Portland, OR is another reputable dive travel agent that is extremely reputable, if you decide to put the planning in the hands of a knowledgeable agent.
Dive and Adventure Travel Specialists - Reef and Rainforest